Landing Pages for Home Builders: How To Get Started

Are you struggling to generate leads from your website? Maybe you have a few submarkets or communities that need some “extra love”? You can always spend more of your marketing budget to get new leads – but after a certain point, that cost per lead gets to be too high.

So what do you do? Landing pages.

Instead, you could be turning to landing pages. This is assuming that your Facebook & Google AdWords are setup correctly and performing well.

So let’s get technical: What is a landing page and what does it do?

Simply put, a landing page the 1st page someone sees on your website after clicking your Ad. In the context of this article, when we say “landing page,” we mean a specifically designed page with the sole purpose of converting that visit into a lead.

Yes – every single page of our website should have an easy-to-find and enticing call to action button. But on a landing page, the only option for a visitor is to leave or become a lead.

And you know what? They work! We’ve seen pages that consistently convert up to 18% of viewers.

How do you get started?

You can build landing pages into your current website or you can use a 3rd party tool. What matters most is getting results. Either option is fine, but we’re partial to using a tool. Using a tool gives you so much more control over layout and functionality without needing to have strong IT skills.

I personally love the Unbounce tool for building landing pages. It’s very simple to use and integrates with almost every CRM out there (Including Lasso!) so you’ll be sure that no lead is left behind.

Unbouncehas plans starting around $100/month. You’ll find that most of the landing page builders are around this same cost.

To setup Unbounce, all you need to do is either create a subdomain for your current website or purchase a new domain that you’ll use exclusively for landing pages. Either way, the IT portion of the setup should only take a few minutes. Best of all, it won’t disrupt your website.

When should you use landing pages?

Your goal rate for converting visitors to new leads should be between 1.5% and 2%. Break this down by community and submarket to determine which areas are struggling to generate leads. Keep in mind this could be happening for a number of reasons outside of your control – like pricing and where homes are being built.

Sometimes a dedicated landing page is the best choice no matter what. However, there are many other situations where the decision is up in the air. So how do you know whether to use your website or a landing page?

There are many situations where using a landing page to generate leads is a great choice. I’ve outlined a few examples of these below:

1 – Slow Communities (sometimes)

First, you need to make sure you’re spending enough to generate the leads you want. If you are and you still need more, then build that landing page!

2 – Low Performing Submarkets (sometimes):

Again, make sure you’re spending enough to generate those leads. It’s possible that your low-performing submarkets aren’t getting the funding they need to entice visitors. But if you are spending enough – build a landing page!

3 – VIP/Coming Soon/Presale Without Fail (always):

We have run landing pages specifically for “coming soon” communities and the Presale Without Fail Process many times. These pages ALWAYS outperform a standard community page on the website. We see conversion rates of 10-20%!

4 – Home Tours / Events (always):

If the event is large enough – like a Home Tour – a dedicated page with event details is very effective. We typically do not have a lead-generating component on this page. Instead, we use it as an extended version of the Facebook ad. This event’s landing page is also perfect for email marketing.

Quality vs. Quantity

The quality of leads from your website tend to be higher than those from a landing page. Expect this and plan for it. How? Set the expectation with your sales manager and OSC up front. Let them know that leads from landing pages are often closer to the beginning stages of their home buying journey. You will also want to setup a separate sales process to handle these landing page leads if the volume overwhelms your sales team.

Remember, when the Google or Facebook user reaches your landing page, their only options are to become a lead or leave. There will always be those that submit the form without wanting to talk to anyone today, or even in the near future. But by creating targeted landing pages, you increase the odds of converting that visitor.

Landing Page Template

Below you’ll find a great graphic providing the elements that should be on your landing page. I’d advise to use it a checklist when building your first landing page.

1 – Logo

Always include your logo on the Landing Page. Sometimes it may be appropriate to include the community logo as well.

2 – Phone Number

Use a tracking phone number, you’ll be surprised at the quantity of calls.

3 – Headline

The goal of the Headline is to attract and qualify. Do this by including the Submarket name (city) as well as the type of home you are selling. For example – “New Homes in Tampa Bay”

4 – Form

Include the first name, last name, email & phone number. Adding additional form fields almost always reduces the conversion rate, however for some builders this is a necessity based on lead quantity.

5 – Submit Button

Typically using text other than “submit” converts more visitors into a lead. For example – “Become a VIP” or “View Available Homes”.

6 – Supporting Copy

This section has 2 purposes. The first is to market the community or homes, the second is to further qualify those who are on this page. You’ll accomplish this by including pricing, floor-plan information, number of bedrooms & size of the homes.

7 – Body Content Headline

The Body Content is an extension of the Supporting Copy in the above section. Use this space to talk about the community and other details that would support in convincing a web visitor to submit the form. The Body Content Headline is a great space to Position your Brand or Community.

8 – Body Content Copy

Just like the Supporting Copy, use the Body Content to persuade web visitors to submit the form.

9 – Supporting Images

Images are very important on Landing Pages. Use the highest quality and best produced images that represent the homes you are selling. Typically 3-6 images is enough to be able to give the visitor an idea of what types of homes are available.

Now What?

Generating leads doesn’t have to be an uphill struggle. With a bit of planning, you can create engaging and powerful landing pages to generate new leads. By targeting specific markets and focusing on underperforming areas, you can see an increased conversion rate of visitors and gain leads.

Once you’ve decided to use a landing page to boost conversion rates, it’s easy to create one on your own or look for a third-party tool to help. Creating specific pages for events is a great way to improve email marketing, and “coming soon” pages tend to capture a great amount of leads. If you aren’t generating the leads you want, throwing money at the problem may not help. Using landing pages is a great way to reach your lead goals and increase your conversion rate.

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